Accelerating Postitive Change in Electronic Records. Understanding issues and developing practical approaches.
Lead Research Organisation:
Northumbria University
Department Name: Sch of Computing Eng and Info Sciences
Abstract
The management of electronic records has been a significant issue for organisations for more than two decades. And, for the last decade records professionals have had access to guidelines, standards and systems developed by national archives, coalitions, professional associations and research groups. But as 2005 draws to a close, the e-government vision of countries such as the UK and Malaysia, is not yet a reality. John McDonald (2005) points out the pace of change has been relatively slow. The question is why?
To realise change in electronic records management we need to address two fundamental issues. First, we need to recognise that the world of work has changed radically and we need a better understanding of the way organisations, in all sectors, do 'business'. Successful electronic records management requires understanding working practices, business processes and organisational drivers. We need standards and practices not only for recordkeeping but also for the way we work today. Second, much recordkeeping theory and practice orginates from the paper world and is being imposed onto the electronic world. We need to challenge the relevance of paper practices for the electronic world.
This project aims to investigate and critically explore issues and practical strategies to support accelerating the pace of positive change in managing electronic reocrds. It will:
- investigate the issues and problems of electronic records management
- develop a comptemporary critical view of the state of ERM globally at both the research and practical levels
- challenge existing recordkeeping paradigms to develop an appropriate practical paradigm for electronic records management and
- develop and share examples of electronic records management strategies, tactics and practice through a series of scenario-based vignettes and a weblog or blog.
Its focus is on designing an organisational-centred architecture from three perspectives: (i) people, including vision, awareness, culture, drivers and barriers; (ii) working practices including processes, procedures, policies and standards; and (iii) technology in terms of the design principles for delivering effective recordkeeping.
Since recordkeeping in the e-environment involves different stakeholder groups (i.e. executives/senior managers, records professionals, IT/systems administrators and recordkeepers) and is trans-disciplinary (involving information managmenet, humanities, social sciences, public policy, history, business management etc), the project will engage people from multiple disciplines and all stakeholder groups in order to build the professional and academic partnerships necessary to succeed.
Benefits of the project are that participants will learn from discussion about issues, approaches, successes and failures; the vignettes will provide valuable scenarios and potential solutions for use in other organisations; the blog will provide a global discussion forum for sharing and learning. The process and outputs will have potential application in the practitioner and academic communities.
McDonald, J. (2005). The wide frontier ten years on. In: McLeod, J and Hare, CE (Eds). Managing electronic records. Facet, p.1-17.
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To realise change in electronic records management we need to address two fundamental issues. First, we need to recognise that the world of work has changed radically and we need a better understanding of the way organisations, in all sectors, do 'business'. Successful electronic records management requires understanding working practices, business processes and organisational drivers. We need standards and practices not only for recordkeeping but also for the way we work today. Second, much recordkeeping theory and practice orginates from the paper world and is being imposed onto the electronic world. We need to challenge the relevance of paper practices for the electronic world.
This project aims to investigate and critically explore issues and practical strategies to support accelerating the pace of positive change in managing electronic reocrds. It will:
- investigate the issues and problems of electronic records management
- develop a comptemporary critical view of the state of ERM globally at both the research and practical levels
- challenge existing recordkeeping paradigms to develop an appropriate practical paradigm for electronic records management and
- develop and share examples of electronic records management strategies, tactics and practice through a series of scenario-based vignettes and a weblog or blog.
Its focus is on designing an organisational-centred architecture from three perspectives: (i) people, including vision, awareness, culture, drivers and barriers; (ii) working practices including processes, procedures, policies and standards; and (iii) technology in terms of the design principles for delivering effective recordkeeping.
Since recordkeeping in the e-environment involves different stakeholder groups (i.e. executives/senior managers, records professionals, IT/systems administrators and recordkeepers) and is trans-disciplinary (involving information managmenet, humanities, social sciences, public policy, history, business management etc), the project will engage people from multiple disciplines and all stakeholder groups in order to build the professional and academic partnerships necessary to succeed.
Benefits of the project are that participants will learn from discussion about issues, approaches, successes and failures; the vignettes will provide valuable scenarios and potential solutions for use in other organisations; the blog will provide a global discussion forum for sharing and learning. The process and outputs will have potential application in the practitioner and academic communities.
McDonald, J. (2005). The wide frontier ten years on. In: McLeod, J and Hare, CE (Eds). Managing electronic records. Facet, p.1-17.
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People |
ORCID iD |
Julie McLeod (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
McLeod J
(2013)
A strategic approach to making sense of the "wicked" problem of ERM
in Records Management Journal
Childs S
(2013)
Tackling the wicked problem of ERM: using the Cynefin framework as a lens
in Records Management Journal
McLeod J
(2013)
The Cynefin framework: A tool for analyzing qualitative data in information science?
in Library & Information Science Research
McLeod J
(2014)
Reinventing archival methods: reconceptualising electronic records management as a wicked problem
in Archives and Manuscripts
Description | The relative merits and potential uses of a range of different toolkits for assessing records management capacity and/or compliance in organisations. |
Exploitation Route | USe of the approach taken to critically evaluate other toolkits in the discipline as they are developed. |
Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Agriculture Food and Drink Chemicals Communities and Social Services/Policy Construction Creative Economy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Electronics Energy Environment Financial Services and Management Consultancy Healthcare Government Democracy and Justice Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Culture Heritage Museums and Collections Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology Retail Security and Diplomac |
Description | Used internationally by records management practitioners, educators and researchers |
First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
Sector | Education,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Other |
Impact Types | Economic Policy & public services |
Description | CPD, education and research internationally |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | Inform the content of modules and lectures for continuing professional development (CPD) with practitioners and for undergraduate/postgraduate students. Benefits include: students understanding the interconnectedness of the three perspectives [people, processes, technology] and their future role as mediators between often conflicting interests; findings which highlight the importance of organizational and human behavioural issues as challenges in implementing ERM systems; evidence-based data and examples rather than anecdotal evidence that is characteristic of records management; innovative research methodology (e-Delphi studies) used when preparing students to approach their own research projects and opening up ways to go beyond the limitations of surveys and focus groups. |
Description | Citation in 'Leading in the Digital World: Opportunities for Canada's Memory Institutions ' |
Geographic Reach | North America |
Policy Influence Type | Citation in systematic reviews |
URL | http://www.scienceadvice.ca/en/assessments/completed/memory-institutions.aspx |
Description | Citation in book |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Citation in systematic reviews |
Description | Influence on policy development , practice and service provision at the United Nations Secretariat's Archives and Records Management Service , New York |
Geographic Reach | North America |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | Resulted in saving money and also investing more money |
Description | Research project on SharePoint in response to a call from Eduserv. Completed by McLeod, Childs, Lappin & Siggers. |
Organisation | Eduserv |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Information taken from Final Report |
Collaborator Contribution | Research input |
Impact | Project report. Conference paper |
Start Year | 2009 |
Description | Conference (Victoria, BC) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Over 100 archives/records professionals attended a specially arranged lecture covering the AC+erm research project which sparked questions and discussions. This was followed by a meeting with 12 archives/records staff of the Government of British Columbia to explore the issues raised and discuss the topic and the Government's approach to managing e-records. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://tenthousandyearblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/tackling-wicked-problem-of-managing.html |
Description | Dodson Lecture (SLAIS<,UBC, VA) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Over 50 archives, records and information management academics, students and professionals attended to listen to this lecture (18 March 2015) as the Dodson Visiting Professor in Archival Studies 2014-15 at the School of Libary, Archives and Information Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. One outcome was an invitation to deliver a similar talk to members of the Archives Association of British Columbia (21 April), in Victoria; others were discussions with academics at SLAIS about research methodology and with professionals about findings in comparison with their practice. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/mcleod/ |